Well, Canon is releasing the PowerShot G11 soon, which is supposed to replace the G10 as the top-range point and shoot. It's $500 on Amazon, compared to $450 for the G10. I've used the G10 before and was impressed; the manual mode allows you to do much more than most point and shoot cameras I've seen. The G10 also allows you to shoot RAW, which is a big deal for many photographers.
If that's too expensive, you might try looking at the Canon ELPH series, which ranges from $200-400. The PowerShot SD780 IS has gotten great reviews from what I've seen and costs $215 on Amazon. I've also been able to test this model out and, while it doesn't have nearly as many options as the G10 or G11, it creates sharp, clear images and even takes HD video.
Nikon is a bit limited in the point and shoot department when compared to Canon. The Coolpix P90 and Coolpix L100 models are two of the closest to being a DSLR out of all the Nikon point and shoot cameras. The L100 is around $220 on Amazon and the P90 is $360. Since I haven't used either, I'd recommend you go to Flickr and find images taken with them and then decide.
This is the link for the L100 and
this one is for the P90.
Hopefully this helps somewhat. There are so many point and shoot models out there that it is difficult to pick just one!